"A threat to any one of us is an attack on all of us."

Yesterday, classes at Western Washington University were canceled after school officials were alerted to racist threats against students that appeared on Yik Yak.

Though the administration did not believe there was any imminent danger to students, university president Bruce Shepard decided that safe was better than sorry and canceled class. "I need to be very clear here: we are not talking the merely insulting, rude, offensive commentary that trolls and various other lowlifes seem free to spew, willy nilly, although there has been plenty of that, too. No, this was hate speech," he wrote in a letter that appeared on the school's website.

The threats seemed to spawn from the poster's displeasure with efforts to change the school's Viking mascot, which some on campus have suggested is racist and not representative of the school of 15,000's student body. It's unclear if the posts were written by a student, but both the administration and law enforcement are investigating them. "We do not know if the perpetrators are Western students," president Shepard wrote. "If not, they face the criminal justice system. If so, they also face the criminal justice system. And, when it comes to being associated with Western, I promise you it will not be for long."

With so many college administrations under fire for ignoring the concerns of minority students, it's refreshing to see a president not only listen to what's happening on campus but also take proactive steps to protect all students. In his letter, Shepard wrote "a threat to any one of us is an attack on all of us." And that's exactly the way it should be.